S. in February. The balloon used American equipment accompanied by advanced Chinese equipment. New information reveals that Beijing intended to receive the gathered information.
Initially, China claimed the balloon was to gather weather-related issues. An investigation by intelligence agencies determined the balloon's actual purpose was to spy. The Wall Street Journal reported the findings of U.S. officials confirmed by a senior defense official.
According to Fox News, the belief is that no information got transmitted to Beijing. Officials did not elaborate on why the spy mission failed, but countermeasures were put into place by intelligence agencies to prevent data collection.
July 01, 2023
The confirmed report by Fox News contrasts an April story reported by NBC News, which cited senior government officials saying sensitive military sites were a target for collecting data transmitted to Beijing in real-time.
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The FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation and several other intelligence agencies investigated the spy balloon incident, according to The Journal.
The spy balloon's route took it from Alaska to the East Coast. On February 4, the U.S. military shot down a spy balloon while traveling over the Atlantic Ocean.
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July 01, 2023
The United States and China are at odds, creating significant tension levels between the two countries. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in June.
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President Biden is hoping to meet with President Xi. The U.S. President said, "I don't think the leadership knew where it was and knew what was in it and knew what was going on." "It was, I think it was more embarrassing than it [was] intentional."
Biden continued, "And so, I'm hoping that, over the next several months, I'll [be] meeting with Xi again and talking about legitimate differences we have but also how there are areas we can get along."